Landslide Shuts Popular Trail in Yosemite

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK — A landslide near the valley floor Sunday closed the popular Upper Yosemite Falls trail. No injuries or deaths were immediately reported and no one was reported missing, park officials said.

The slide was considered "very small to maybe moderate," said a fire department dispatcher. It started a mile above the Yosemite Valley floor and covered about 200 feet of the trail, which goes from the valley to the falls at about 1,400 feet elevation, park spokeswoman Valerie Pillsbury said.

Rock slides are common in the park, though most occur outside the valley. "It's just part of the natural geological process in the park," she said.

Yosemite's last big slide was July 10. That slide killed one person after a slab of rock 300 to 400 feet wide came off Glacier Point and tumbled into the Happy Valley area of Yosemite Valley.

Despite being a holiday weekend, the park's attendance was down slightly because of a 57,000-acre wildfire that was 95% contained, officials said.